ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Psalms 127.3
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Passage

Psalms 127.3

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV
  1. A Song of Ascents; of Solomon. Except Jehovah build the house, They labor in vain that build it: Except Jehovah keep the city, The watchman waketh but in vain. 2. It is vain for you to rise up early, To take rest late, To eat the bread of toil; For so he giveth unto his beloved sleep.

3. Lo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward.

  1. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, So are the children of youth. 5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be put to shame, When they speak with their enemies in the gate. (Psalms 127:1-5, ASV)
WEB
  1. A Song of Ascents. By Solomon. Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain. 2. It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil; for he gives sleep to his loved ones.

3. Behold, children are a heritage of Yahweh. The fruit of the womb is his reward.

  1. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of youth. 5. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They won’t be disappointed when they speak with their enemies in the gate. (Psalms 127:1-5, WEB)
KJV
  1. A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. for: or, of Solomon that: Heb. that are builders of it in it 2. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

  1. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. his: Heb. filled his quiver with them speak: or, subdue, or, destroy (Psalms 127:1-5, KJV)
YLT
  1. A Song of the Ascents, by Solomon. If Jehovah doth not build the house, In vain have its builders laboured at it, If Jehovah doth not watch a city, In vain hath a watchman waked. 2. Vain for you who are rising early, Who delay sitting, eating the bread of griefs, So He giveth to His beloved one sleep.

3. Lo, an inheritance of Jehovah [are] sons, A reward [is] the fruit of the womb.

  1. As arrows in the hand of a mighty one, So [are] the sons of the young men. 5. O the happiness of the man Who hath filled his quiver with them, They are not ashamed, For they speak with enemies in the gate! (Psalms 127:1-5, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Solomon, by the heading ("A Song of degrees for Solomon")
  • Audience: Israelite pilgrims; it is one of the Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-134), sung going up to Jerusalem
  • Location: Israel, on the road to Jerusalem
  • Time period: traditionally the tenth century BC; the collection was used in later temple worship

Theological reading

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." (Psalm 127:3, KJV).

Children as a gift. Children are called "an heritage of the LORD," an inheritance given by God, and the fruit of the womb "his reward." The verse presents children as gifts entrusted to parents, not products they own.

Worth that comes from the giver. In an inheritance, value comes from the one who gives it. The psalm teaches parents to receive each child as something precious that God has placed in their care. See Children in OT Theology.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

  • TBD
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  • TBD

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.